Saturday, July 28, 2007

San Jose Mercury News - The teachings of Homer Simpson

San Jose Mercury News - The teachings of Homer Simpson:

"Hell probably smells just like barbecue. Whether it's more mustard-based or ketchup-based, I do not know. ('Simpsons Bible Stories,' 1999)"

Monday, July 09, 2007

SiCKO Builds a Movement | TPMCafe

SiCKO Builds a Movement | TPMCafe:

>>"After seeing Moore's film, most people want to pose a big question to all politicians: Will you work to guarantee health care for all? Not incrementally – one disease at a time, or one group (like kids) and then another group (like their parents) in another program – but through a universal system of health care for all?

Here's a second crucial question we should politicians: Will you pledge to cut the big insurance and drug companies out of a central role in the design of your universal health care plan? This week the Campaign for America's Future joined with MoveOn in a campaign to urge our members to take friends to see SiCKO and then to communicate with all the candidates for president, asking them to reject contributions from big insurance and drug companies. We will publicize the answers."<<

Sunday, July 08, 2007

Miners denied pay for months then beaten - World - theage.com.au

Labor Relations In China

Miners denied pay for months then beaten - World - theage.com.au: "Instead, workers were told they must pay for their food, equipment and other costs that exceeded the salaries due to them.

When workers protested, they were threatened by knife-wielding hired thugs, it said.

Several workers who left separately were later tracked down and beaten up."

Sicko: Commenting on commentaries | Twin Cities Daily Planet | Minneapolis - St. Paul

Sicko: Commenting on commentaries | Twin Cities Daily Planet | Minneapolis - St. Paul:

>> "The “Sicko” reviews and commentary are running pretty much true to form, but, interestingly enough, after all the snideness is done, every writer I've come across has had to admit that it is a good film, and that, sonofagun, the United States health care “system” truly is a bloody awful mess, pretty much as Moore says."<<

Saturday, July 07, 2007

How the World Works: Globalization, Globalization Blogs - Salon.com

How the World Works: Globalization, Globalization Blogs - Salon.com: "The long arms of Enron reach beyond the grave

'Excessive Speculation in the Natural Gas Market,' a139-page report released June 25 by the United States Senate's Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations, is a masterpiece of its genre. An account of the energy market shenanigans engaged in by the now-defunct hedge fund Amaranth, the report is well-written, extensively documented, and makes a dramatically persuasive argument: A broken regulatory system allowed Amaranth the leeway to distort natural gas prices, and the system needs to be fixed."

Lake Expo Online - Lake News

THE WAY IT IS: Typewriters hurled over Scooter Libby fiasco

Lake Expo Online - Lake News

>>Libby should have gone to jail, period. He was found guilty, sentenced by a judge and his bid to put off his jail time during appeals was rejected by a panel of judges. I think the man who prosecuted the Libby case, Patrick Fitzgerald, put it well in his statement after the commutation:

“We fully recognize that the Constitution provides that commutation decisions are a matter of presidential prerogative and we do not comment on the exercise of that prerogative.

“We comment only on the statement in which the President termed the sentence imposed by the judge as ‘excessive.’ The sentence in this case was imposed pursuant to the laws governing sentencings which occur every day throughout this country. In this case, an experienced federal judge considered extensive argument from the parties and then imposed a sentence consistent with the applicable laws. It is fundamental to the rule of law that all citizens stand before the bar of justice as equals. That principle guided the judge during both the trial and the sentencing.

“Although the President’s decision eliminates Mr. Libby’s sentence of imprisonment, Mr. Libby remains convicted by a jury of serious felonies, and we will continue to seek to preserve those convictions through the appeals process.”

At least one sentence of that statement is worth repeating: “It is fundamental to the rule of law that all citizens stand before the bar of justice as equals.”<<

Thursday, July 05, 2007

White House Doesn't Bother To Defend Libby Commutation

Clinton's criticism is met with an attack on his own record. No actual defense of the commutation was offered. Maybe they couldn't of think one.
WCAV - News: "The White House responded saying that they couldn't believe the previous administration would have the gall to criticize Libby's commutation considering their last minute pardons."

Wednesday, July 04, 2007

Soccer Gold Cup Draws Larger TV Audience Than Stanley Cup Hockey Finals

By Far!!!
From Soccer365: "The recent Gold Cup attracted 41 percent more television households in the United States than the Stanley Cup finals clincher -- and that was just for the soccer game's Spanish-language telecast."
Soccer365

Monday, July 02, 2007

Happy Birthday, FOIA! You Suck.

Threat Level - Wired Blogs

"One of the most important oversight tools available to the American citizen, FOIA is mired in staggering bureaucracy. An enormous backlog of FOIA requests exists at most agencies, which often ignore the mandatory 20-day response the law requires. Sometimes they ignore it for 15 years or more, as a new report (.pdf) by George Washington University's National Security Archive and the Knight Foundation reveals."

"Ten other agencies misreported their oldest pending requests and five agencies (State, Air Force, CIA, and the criminal division and FBI at the Justice Department) have requests that date back 15 years or more. Last week, the CIA released its "family jewels" documents because of a National Security Archive request 15 years ago. The released files detail CIA attempts to assassinate heads of state, secret LSD tests gone wrong, illegal spying on Americans and a range of other nastiness. At the time, the CIA said this was the oldest pending FOIA request at the agency. Not so, according to the FOIA report, which has uncovered a request from July 1989 asking for information on Manucher Ghorbanifar and Iran-Contra."